Paul's Picks! - November 16, 2012

Well, it's that time again folks: Wednesday! And you know what Wednesday is?... Well, of course you do, you're reading a blog about comics, so you obviously know it's New Comics Day, a.k.a. Paul's favorite weekly holiday! And now for his much-anticipated pick-of-the-week...

Hello friends, fans, and fellow nerds! Well, maybe you're not all nerds, but I like to think we hold our own little corner of the world in all of our nerd-glory. But regardless of your affiliation, welcome to this week's edition of Paul's Picks, where I, Paul Shirley, relay to you all my favorite book from this week's hefty stack of pulls, along with my review! Are you ready? Then let's get started...

All New X-Men by Brian Michael Bendis and Stuart Immonen

In a week filled to the brim with quality books, I'll not lie in saying there were more than a couple of choices to go with here. Snyder and Capullo are still blowing it up over there on Batman #14, all of the new Marvel NOW! titles I read were more than solid, and there were even a few sleepers that brought their A-game, such as Batgirl #14 and Detective Comics #14 by the Great new creative team of John Layman and Jay Fabok. And yet, no other book just knocked me on my back quite as hard as Bendis and Immonen's first foray into their new title, All New X-Men.

Paul's Picks!... Is Back! - November 2, 2012

Well, it's that time again folks: Wednesday! And you know what Wednesday is?... Well, of course you do, you're reading a blog about comics, so you obviously know it's New Comics Day, a.k.a. Paul's favorite weekly holiday! And now for his much-anticipated pick-of-the-week...


Hello friends! Wow, it has been WAY too long since I found my way on here to share my weekly thoughts with you all... Life has been coming at me pretty hard with Student Teaching on the horizon. But no more excuses, I'm here today to bring you my pick of the week, and boy is it a doozy!

In a week of very few monthly comics and a stack full of annuals, I had all but given my pick of the week to TMNT #15 (Shocker, right? You can read more about it on this week's show, download it here.). And to be honest, that issue was certainly fantastic, and I would gladly recommend it to anyone, as it is still one of the most consistently great books on the market. With that being said, at the last minute my Pick of the Week was taken by a sleeper, so to say. It's a book that  I have been thoroughly enjoying, but that has never gone above "good" to achieve the greatness that I expect out of my Pick. And that book is...

Aquaman #13 by Geoff Johns and Ivan Reis

Paul's Picks! - April 18, 2012

Well, it's that time again folks: Wednesday! And you know what Wednesday is?... Well, of course you do, you're reading a blog about comics, so you obviously know it's New Comics Day, a.k.a. Paul's favorite weekly holiday! And now for his much-anticipated pick-of-the-week...

Another week has passed, and with it comes a whole new slew of comics to keep us here at Ancillary Characters busy with writing, thinking, podcasting and stuff. With a long list of incredible books to survey from Wednesday, April 19th, I'm here as usual to give you my well-founded (or so I think) opinion regarding my pick of the week! For those of you who have been following us here at AC for some time now, you may be pleased to hear that, thanks to Seth and my recent acquisition of an iPad, my weekly Marvel intake has greatly increased (not to mention the Image titles I'm reading monthly now. And so, both in my column and on the show, our topics will be branching out more so from the DC-heavy stuff we've been covering since the arrival of the New 52. And so, you can definitely expect to see titles from all over the spectrum of comic book publishers from now on. With that being said, I must confess that this week's pick was so fantastic that my desire to expand the column into broader horizons has been somewhat dwarfed by the sheer awesomeness of the absolute winner...

Paul's Picks, Double Feature! (Part 1) - Feb. 15, 2012

Well, it's that time again folks: Wednesday! And you know what Wednesday is?... Well, of course you do, you're reading a blog about comics, so you obviously know it's New Comics Day, a.k.a. Paul's favorite weekly holiday! And in celebration of this weekly, well, celebration, Paul is here to give you his favorite book of the week.

Double Feature, Part 1:

Hey there guys! A week of comic book goodness has come and gone, and now it's time for the next installment of Paul's Picks! As you have probably noticed, there hasn't been a much coming out of Ancillary Characters this week, since my partner-in-crime Seth Breedlove has left his usual stomping ground and gone down to Orlando with family. But never fear! I'm here to supply your weekly AC fix with not just one, but TWO picks for this week! You heard it, TWO PICKS!!

Okay, so maybe it's not all that exciting, but we comic readers have something to be super excited about! There has been plenty of buzz surrounding the New 52 since last August, both good and bad. But this week, the fans were provided with two issues that are both noteworthy and praiseworthy. Over the next two days, I will put up reviews for my two picks, so that all of you avid readers out there will have enough of our particular brand of charm to get you by. And so tonight, I'm going to begin with my first pick (and I'm sure many of you saw this coming): Batman #6 by Scott Snyder and Greg Capullo.